The COVID-19 Pandemic in India

An Analysis of State Response

Abstract

The world is in the throes of Coronavirus pandemic. COVID-19 has posed an unprecedented challenge for India, given a large scale of population, poor health system, and the pre-pandemic precarious situation of the economy. Unlike the United Kingdom and Singapore, India did not enact COVID-19 Law and relied on National Disaster Management Act, 2005, and colonial Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 to tackle the Coronavirus pandemic. The nationwide lockdown has been governments’ central strategy to combat COVID-19, which remains the biggest and the most stringent lockdown of the world till the date. The misplaced prioritisation of lockdown as an exit strategy vis-a-vis alternative vision of public health has contradictory implications in terms of administrative centrality and law and order oriented response. The sudden and unplanned lockdown led to the migrant workers crisis and economic crisis. The migrant workers have had to bear the worst burden of the epidemic in terms of lives and livelihood. The outbreak of COVID-19 not only triggered health crisis but also unfolded/amplified the vulnerabilities of the poor and unequipped public health system. The pandemic has impinged on the country’s economy in multiple ways and its legacy will be carried over to the post-corona period. In view of downgrading India’s growth rate projections, government relief packages seem insufficient to stimulate the economy. It is imperative for the government to develop a coherent economic strategy and policies to mitigate the social and economic fallout of the pandemic.